J’den Cox, Wrestling

The freestyle wrestling specialist is competing in the Olympics for the first time of his career in Rio, where he will bring his nimble agility and quickness to the mat for the United States. A native of Columbia, Missouri, Cox is a former two-time NCAA national wrestling champion, and he earned a gold medal at the 2016 World Olympic Qualifier in Mongolia—the first international tournament he ever competed in. Cox qualified for Rio by winning gold in the 86 kg/213 lbs weight class and he also won a national title in 2014 while competing for the University of Missouri, becoming the first true freshman in school history to win it.